


Sweet Lorraine

by fredbassett



Category: Primeval
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-12
Updated: 2013-11-12
Packaged: 2018-01-01 07:48:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1042224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fredbassett/pseuds/fredbassett
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Special Forces lads are having a party, wives and girlfriends allowed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sweet Lorraine

The steady thump, thump, thump of a bass guitar and drums greeted Ryan and Stephen as they parked their car outside the house that Blade shared with a bunch of other lads from the unit.

They were there to help celebrate Blade’s birthday and it looked like he was already taking the opportunity to indulge his musical tastes by turning the volume on the music system up extra loud and playing Black Sabbath. If Ryan knew Blade’s tastes, that would soon be followed by copious doses of Uriah Heep, Wishbone Ash and Led Zeppelin.

Stephen raised his eyebrows. “Bloody hell, the neighbours must be happy bunnies.”

Ryan laughed. “Mr and Mrs Poleska are both as deaf as posts without their hearing aids and the family on the other side are on holiday.”

The front door was open and they were greeted by the sight of Kermit and his wife sitting on the stairs snogging like a pair of teenagers.

“I thought you two were married,” Ryan remarked, snagging a bottle of beer off the step below them and taking a swig before passing it to Stephen.

“Hello, boss,” Kermit said, not bothering to protest at the loss of his beer. “We’ve got a babysitter for the night.”

“And they’ve chucked me out of my bloody room,” Finn complained good-naturedly, arriving with the necks of several bottles grasped in one large hand. “Sodding cheek.”

“It’s very kind of you, Rob,” Kermit’s pretty wife said with a smile. “Hello, sir, Stephen.” She stood up, still shorter than either of them even though she was on the second step of the stairs, and kissed each of them on the cheek.

Ryan returned the kiss. “Cara, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Ryan, or even Tom?”

She smiled again, clearly intending to take no notice of him and Ryan didn’t push the point. Apart from his fellow officers, the lads still called him boss even when they were off duty and their wives and girlfriends had a habit of just not using his name.

Finn handed out bottles of beer and asked, with a broad grin, “Is this going to be one of those parties where we all sit on the stairs and change partners every time a new track comes on?”

“I bloody hope not,” drawled Lyle from the doorway. “I don’t fancy necking you, mate.”

To Ryan’s surprise, Lester appeared next to Lyle, casually dressed in jeans and an open-necked shirt, and slipped his arm around the lieutenant’s waist. “Have you no sense of adventure, my little cauliflower?”

“Not when it comes to playing tonsil-hockey with Finn, I haven’t. Besides, he farts in bed.”

“So do you, pumpkin,” said Lester.

Their endearments were clearly culinary in nature that night and Ryan wondered at what point one of them would refer to the other as ‘pudding’. The lads had begun to run a book on how long the pair of them could go without repeating themselves. The game had been known to go on for days without a winner being declared. It put his and Stephen’s efforts to shame. They’d have to cook up a bet between them before the night was much older.

The sudden strains of Paranoid blared out through the house and Blade appeared, playing an air guitar, for once looking open and relaxed, his green eyes glittering in a tanned face. The fact that he was now going out with Lester’s secretary, Lorraine Wickes, didn’t seem to have made any difference to how often he shaved, and his ever-present stubble was even heavier than usual.

Ryan handed over the bottle of 25-year-old Macallan they’d brought as a present. “Don’t let the professor near it,” he advised.

“I heard that,” remarked Cutter, sauntering in from the back garden. “I’ll expect the same on my birthday, you know.” He shook hands warmly with Ryan and clapped Stephen on the shoulder.

Ryan and Stephen followed Blade through the house into the garden, where Lorraine, Claudia and Abby were sprawled out on the grass, enjoying the early evening sunshine. All three women looked happy and relaxed, and Ryan watched Lorraine’s dark eyes light up when she saw Blade.

Lorraine Wickes had joined the anomaly project with the move to their new premises and she’d already made herself indispensable. It was an open secret that she’d come to them from Military Intelligence. Ryan had seen her practising with a pistol on the underground shooting range and he’d been impressed with her performance. The woman handled a weapon with the same degree of calm competence that she brought to bear on tasks such as keeping Lester’s paperwork in order, taking minutes and running rings around awkward government ministers.

Ditzy’s girlfriend, Claire, appeared from nowhere, gave Ryan a kiss on cheek and Stephen a hug before going to join the other women. “How come the married couple are the only ones doing the snogging?” the medic asked of no one in particular as he followed her out into the garden.

“We’ll change that, shall we?” Ryan said, putting his beer down and pulling Stephen into his arms for a leisurely kiss that tasted pleasantly of beer, which was promptly greeted by a chorus of cat-calls and wolf-whistles. A party popper let off by Connor sent a shower of paper streamers over them. When they pulled apart, Ryan was pleased to see the warmth in his lover’s blue eyes. It had taken Ryan a while to be comfortable with open displays of affection in front of his men, but kissing Stephen in public now felt as natural as breathing, and it was always worth it to see that Stephen was now capable of demonstrating his own feelings other than in the privacy of the bedroom. Ryan had long since stopped worrying about what others might think and anyway, they were amongst friends, some of the closest they had.

The anomaly project had forged them into a tight-knit group and Ryan wasn’t surprised by the number of relationships that had developed. They had little time for socialising apart from with other, and working with dinosaurs on an almost daily basis wasn’t conducive to external relationships. Even Cutter and Claudia looked like they were finally venturing beyond the stage of just good friends. The various wives and girlfriends here were fully aware of the need for secrecy in every aspect of their partners’ work. Life with a husband or a boyfriend in the Special Forces wasn’t easy, and they all provided a support group for each other that had been extended to take in the civilians in the team, even Lester, much to his surprise.

As the evening wore on and the darkness closed in around them, the garden was lit up by a few strings of fairy lights draped over various trees and bushes. With the amount of alcohol that was being consumed, inhibitions were gradually loosening and even Cutter and Claudia had been caught kissing.

The music system was now playing Uriah Heep and Ryan knew perfectly well that Blade had enough of their albums to keep them running on continuous loop for several hours, maybe even days.

A cheer went up from a few of the lads as one particular track came on.

_Would you like to take this magic potion with me  
On a trip to a cosmic playground far beyond_

Blade wandered out of the house and held his hand down to Lorraine, pulling her gently to her feet and into his arms as they started to sway to the gentle beat of the music.

_She understands, she’s been before  
It’s in her hands to find the door_

Ryan had been surprised when the reserved young soldier he’d known for so long had finally opened up enough to let Lorraine Wickes into his life. Blade had a well-deserved reputation as a mad fucker. He was quite probably one of the most dangerous men Ryan had ever worked with, and Ryan – and Lyle – knew better than most people the internal demons that drove Blade. As a child he’d seen his parents die in the blazing inferno of an upside-down car. As a young soldier on his first posting abroad, he’d seen three members of his unit brutally tortured and killed.

_Sweet Lorraine, let the party carry on  
You and I will swim the sea_

His experiences had turned Blade into one of the most efficient and ruthless killers that Ryan had ever worked with. He was also one of the few men alive who Ryan placed total trust in. If you were in a tight spot, Blade was the guy you wanted at your back.

_Sweet Lorraine, let the party carry on  
You and I can feel the breeze_

“She really does understand him, doesn’t she?” murmured Stephen, resting his head on Ryan’s shoulder as they leant against the back wall of the house and watched the couple dancing gracefully and unselfconsciously. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this relaxed.”

Ryan had, but usually only when Blade’s hands were covered in blood and he’d just experienced a post-combat orgasm. They all got a hard-on in action at some point in their careers, but for Blade it was a regular occurrence. The green-eyed soldier got his rocks off in situations that had other men pissing themselves in fear.

_There is no time, no wealth only I surround you  
The fortune of this guide is simply sincerity_

Lorraine Wickes had seen the reports. She was under no illusions about the man whose hands were resting lightly on her hips. She’d seen him come back to the ARC covered in blood and filth, the expression on his handsome face that of a man who’d spent a pleasant afternoon making love, rather than fighting for his life – and other people’s – against something out of a nightmare.

If anyone was capable of keeping Blade’s demons at bay without resort to death and destruction Lorraine was, but so far as Ryan could see, his new-found relationship had done nothing to blunt Blade’s edge. He was still shit-hot in combat, maybe even deadlier than he had been before, if that was possible, as he now had something more to live for than himself and his comrades.

_She understands ‘cause she’s been before  
It’s in her hands to find the door_

The soft glow of the garden lights fell on Lorraine’s upturned face, the smoothness of her beautiful coffee-coloured skin in stark contrast to Blade’s rough stubble. He rubbed his cheek gently against hers and she laughed, making a remark that was too quiet for Ryan to hear.

Blade drew back slightly and smiled at her, then covered Lorraine’s lips with his and kissed her, heedless of any onlookers.


End file.
